Vending machines often include change payout apparatus for paying out change to a customer in the event of an excess deposit, i.e., a deposit which exceeds the vend price. Examples of such vending machines are set forth in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,754,629, 3,820,642, and 3,841,456, all of which are assigned to the present assignee.
In vending machines capable of paying out change in the event of an excessive deposit, a plurality of a coin tubes generally are utilized for storing coins. Each coin tube is designated to store coins of one denomination, e.g., quarter, nickel, or dime. Initially, an operator fills each coin tube with the designated denomination. In operation, when a customer makes an excess deposit, the amount of change due is determined and paid out from the coin tubes.
To avoid having to frequently replenish the coin tubes, a deposited coin is supplemented to coins stored in a coin tube if the coin tube is not full. If the coin tubes are full, a deposited coin is routed to a cash box. For example, if the quarter tube is not full, deposited quarters will be routed to the quarter tube. Examples of vending machines including coin tubes and routing mechanisms are set forth in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,963,035 , 4,587,984, and 5,184,708, all of which are assigned to the present assignee.
Vending machines also typically include structure to sense the number of coins in each coin tube and to control the payout of change using the highest possible denominations of coins. Lower denomination coins are used if the quantity of coins in the higher denomination coin tubes has fallen below a predetermined level. Paying out change using the highest possible denominations of coins generally is known as a "least coin payout".
Once the quantity of coins in a coin tube falls to a predetermined level, and if payout of proper change is not possible without a coin from such tube, the vending machine requires an exact deposit equal to the vend price to make a sale. A customer, fully aware that proper change is not possible, could still make an excess deposit and a vend operation would be performed. Under such circumstances, however, the customer will receive a payout less than the difference between the vend price and the amount deposited. Examples of such coin level detection and payout control are set forth in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,963,035 and 4,587,984, which are mentioned above, and U.S. Pat. No. 4,763,769, assigned to the assignee of the present invention.
Paying out change using the highest denomination of coins facilitates maintaining a better "mix" of coins stored in the coin tubes and operating a vending machine for longer periods of time without requiring customers to deposit exact change. While devices which implement the least coin payout are useful, these devices do not anticipate whether the quantity of coins for a particular coin type is likely to fall below the predetermined level required to continue payout of such coin type. Rather, these devices simply payout coins from each available tube using the highest possible denomination of coins. Exact deposit is required once a particular coin type required for payout is not available and until the coin tubes for such coin type are replenished.
Since many customers often do not have coins readily available to make such an exact deposit, sales usually are lost when a vending machine requires exact deposit. Further, having an operator frequently replenish the coin tubes for each vending machine generally is expensive, particularly when a number of vending machines are located in a large geographic area.
Accordingly, it is desirable and advantageous to provide a vending machine capable of paying out change for long periods of time without requiring an operator to manually replenish the coin tubes. It is also desirable and advantageous to provide a vending machine which generates data indicating that the quantity of coins for a particular coin type may be more likely than the quantity of coins of other coin types to fall to a predetermined minimum level and, based on such data, automatically attempts to save coins of such coin type without quickly depleting other coin types.
An object of the present invention is to provide a vending machine for saving, i.e., not paying out, a coin of a particular coin type which is most likely, as compared to other coin types, to first reach a condition in which further payout of such coin type is not possible.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a vending machine which operates so as to maintain a better mix of coins stored in the coin tubes.
Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a vending machine capable of paying out change for long periods of time without requiring an operator to manually replenish the coin tubes.
Still yet another object of the present invention is to provide a vending machine which provides an accurate payout to a customer and operates to facilitate preventing the quantity of coins for each coin type from falling below a predetermined level.